Gum Hopper or Wattle Hopper from Australia

Please will you help me identify this VERY strange-looking insect? My friends and I lunch at a wooden table under some tall eucalyptus trees outside our chemistry building at the Australian National University in Canberra. Sometimes ladybird larvae and other little insects (and birds) commune with us. Yesterday, we were visited by a very strange little insect. I have another photograph, in case it may prove useful). I have never seen an insect like this one. I tried to hold it, but it escaped me with a very powerful jump – like a grasshopper. After a couple of jumps, it was very successfully camouflaged on the pebbly ground. Kind regards, David Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

Hi David, This is an immature Eurybrachyid Planthopper, commonly called a Gum Hopper or Wattle Hopper. You can find a page devoted to this family on the Geocities website.